


Time to be brave

by MidgardianNerd



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Teens are dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 16:03:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21139367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidgardianNerd/pseuds/MidgardianNerd
Summary: Poe has an important question to ask to Ben Solo.





	Time to be brave

**Author's Note:**

  * For [idrilhadhafang](https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/gifts).

> For Idril, my partner in crime, for a little reward after her exam.

Poe was hiding behind the bookshelves of the school library, faking to have some interest for the history of capitalism while he was reading the summary of a book on the subject. Jessika was in the philosophy section and Snap in the russian literature, both of them ready to stop Poe to flee if he felt his momentary bravery leaving him. 

Poe looked up from the book when he heard someone grumbling with frustration and he felt his stomach knotting with nervousness. Tallie was supposed to put him in a good mood so Poe could have every chance.  _ Him  _ being Ben Solo. The young man was passing his hands in his hair, his dark eyes stabbing the poor math book on the table. Poe blushed, hiding his face in the book he was faking to read. 

His little crush -big in Jessika’s opinion- began two years ago when Ben Solo moved back in town with his mother after his parents’ divorce. Well, began wasn’t really accurate. Because his 10-year old self remembered too well the day Ben Solo, his shy little neighbor he loved to play with, moved away with his parents. Poe had been miserable for two months and then, the new school year began and Poe forgot him. 

He thought he would never see him again until two years ago, when a tall boy with a big nose and moles on his pale face appeared in the back of their classroom, trying to disappear into the wall behind him. Poe felt a familiar feeling but he didn’t realize who this boy was until the professor said his name and Poe’s eyes couldn’t left anymore the face of the new student. He tried to see the little Ben Solo, the one who was laughing hard when he was playing with his father in his garden, in this sulky teen but only anger and pain were shining in his dark eyes. 

It took to Poe days to find the courage to go speaking to him but it didn’t really go well. Ben ignored him or made like he didn’t remember Poe. Poe didn’t lose hope though and he tried again. And again and again. Untilt the day Ben lashed out and told Poe to go to hell. Since this day, Poe’s friends weren’t really happy with him, trying to deter Poe to keep on but Poe couldn’t help it. He wanted to know what happened to Ben Solo. 

After six months of Poe making a point to talk everyday to Ben, the young man stopped to tell him to fuck off. After nine months, he let Poe sitting next to him but yet didn’t talk to him. Then it was the holidays and Ben disappeared for two straight months. When this school year began, everybody was surprised to see Ben Solo walking in the corridor with his head up. The young man was still discreet and quiet but he didn’t try to mentally murder anymore anybody coming close to him. 

When Poe talked to him, the young man answered with a soft voice and a shy smile and Poe smiled proudly all day. They didn’t talk that much in the next months but they shared smiles and laughed at private jokes and Poe felt like maybe they were becoming friends. Until he realized that Ben Solo’s smile was making his stomach rumbling with excitement and that he couldn’t look away from this beautiful face when he should have listened to his professor. Three months ago, Poe realized -or more Jessika shouted in his face- that he wanted more than friendship with Ben Solo. 

Since then, Poe and Ben’s interactions had been awkward, mostly because of Poe and he felt the young man closing back himself to Poe. Poe didn’t like that. Even less when they all would leave high school to go to college in less than two months. Poe felt his heart tightening with pain when he thought about how Ben would probably disappeared again from his life. 

Poe thought that it was over but Jessika had something else in mind. With Snap, Karé and Tallie, they all decided to stick him in the corner and not letting him go before he agreed to ask Ben to go to prom with him. And that was why Poe was there, hiding in the library, waiting for Tallie’s signal to come talking to Ben once that their tutoring session would be done. 

Poe was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize that Tallie had been trying to catch his attention since two minutes. But then, the young girl came in the alley and pushed Poe towards Ben. Poe almost tripped on his own feet and everybody looked at him, Ben the first. Poe blushed and mumbled a sorry to everyone before taking a deep breath and walking towards Ben’s table, the young man throwing him a dark glance and Poe almost wanted to run away but when he looked back, Jessika was ordering him to join Ben with just a scowl. 

He felt Ben’s dark eyes following him while he took Tallie’s seat and they stayed silent for a long minute, Poe trying to remember how to breathe. Ben crossed his arms on his chest and Poe could feel the animosity radiating from his body. 

“Am I finally worth your time back?” groaned Ben and Poe blushed, ashamed. 

“Ben!” muttered Poe. “I’m sorry.”

“What do you want?” asked roughly Ben and Poe felt like he fucked up his only chance with Ben and it hurt. 

“Your forgiveness.” mumbled Poe, finally looking up at Ben and he saw his eyes shining with tears and Poe felt awful.

“Why do you care?” shrugged Ben, tired and Poe would have preferred a thousand times to have Ben being angry with him. He didn’t like at all the resignation in Ben’s deep voice, like it was logical for him to be abandoned. 

Poe shut up his mind screaming to not do that and let his heart talking instead when he softly took one of Ben’s hands in his. He saw Ben freezing, his eyes glueing to their entwined hands and Poe saw his lower lip trembling, like the young man was trying to not break down in tears and Poe wondered when was the last time someone had touched him with kindness. 

“What did I do wrong?” struggled out Ben and Poe saw a tear rolling on his cheek. 

“Ben!” whispered Poe, wrapping his other hand around theirs and pressed them. “You...it was my fault.” said Poe, his thumb brushing against Ben’s knuckles and Ben shook his head, his hair falling before his eyes. “I realized-”

“That I wasn’t worth your time.” breathed out Ben and Poe frowned. He softly brushed Ben’s hair behind his ear and before taking his chin in his hand so the young man would look at him. 

“That I like you.” answered Poe and Ben looked up at him, his eyes growing bigger with surprise. 

“You like me.” repeated Ben, frowning like he couldn’t believe. “Like?”

“Like enough to ask you to go to prom with him?” answered Poe, feeling nervous and he felt Ben crushing his hand with surprise. 

“You don’t want to go to prom with me.” chuckled bitterly Ben and Poe frowned.

“Yes I do.” said Poe, holding Ben’s hand when he tried to take it off. 

“You can’t.” hissed Ben. “You’re Poe Dameron. You...you will probably be elected Prom King.” he added and Poe blushed. “And I’m...me.” he finished with a wince.

“That’s the point.” chuckled Poe and Ben threw him a dark glance but he could see the other man blushing and Poe found him cute like that. “I wouldn’t ask you if you weren’t you.” he added with a shy smile.

“This sentence is giving me a headache.” grumbled Ben and Poe couldn’t help laughing. 

Poe could see a smile breaking Ben’s lips and he felt his heart racing faster against his ribcage. They stayed silent for a long minute when Poe felt Ben’s fingers twitching in his hand and Poe released softly his grip on Ben’s hand. He shivered when he felt the tips of Ben’s fingers stroking into his palms. 

“You really want to be seen with me?” asked shyly Ben.

“It would be my honor.” answered Poe, entwining his fingers with Ben and the young man pressed back. 

They looked shyly at each other before smiling softly. Ben nodded and Poe tried to not scream in joy. He needed to be sure. 

“Alright.” whispered Ben and Poe bit down his lips.

“You sure?” asked Poe and Ben nodded. 

Poe grinned like a fool and without thinking, he bent above the table to kiss Ben’s cheek. When he sat back, Ben was blushing hard and Poe joined him when he realized what he did. They looked up when they heard noises and Poe saw his friends trying to look busy and miserabely failing. Poe grumbled with embarrassment and he heard Ben chuckling. 

“I will kill them.” sighed Poe.

“Could you send back Tallie before?” asked Ben with a shy smile. “I still need her with this damn math test.” he added, grumbling with frustration and Poe laughed. 

“Sure.” grinned Poe, standing up. 

Ben hold back Poe’s wrist and the young man frowned. Ben made sign to him to come closer so Poe bent towards him. 

“Thank them for me.” whispered Ben in Poe’s ear before softly kissing his cheek. 

Poe’s breath hitched in his throat and he was losing himself in Ben’s dark eyes when he heard his friends cheering, teasing Poe. Ben let go Poe’s hand and when the librarian scolded his friends for being noisy, Poe ran after them and the small gang of friends were throwing out the library. Just before going out, Poe looked up towards Ben and the young man was looking back at him, putting a finger before his mouth to shush him and a wink. 

Poe almost tripped again on his own feet. But maybe he should get used to it now that he had Ben Solo’s attention. 

**Author's Note:**

> My Tumblr: @midgardiannerd  
Our Tumblr: @knightsofdamnren


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